Create a flower arrangement and centerpiece for your table using lemons. This easy tutorial is a fun and decorative way to conceal your flower stems while adding interest interest to your glass vase!
Happy Wednesday! The mercury and humidity is on the rise this week, but we had a brief respite with several days of wonderful, breezy 80 degree weather. . .perfect for dining outdoors!
The vibrant shades of Endless Summer Hydrangeas are starting to fade to softer blues. I paired them with some lemons for a floral centerpiece for the table.
I used my favorite ‘vase within a vase’ method for flower arranging and a centerpiece for the table. Start with two vases, a smaller one to nest inside a larger one.
Place your flowers in the inner vase and fill the walls between the vases with your decorative material to conceal the flower stems and/or any mechanics like chicken wire or floral foam.
You can see examples of the ‘vase within a vase’ method using seasonal candy for a Red Hot Centerpiece for Valentine’s Day, a Leprechaun Hat for St. Patrick’s Day, Tulips for Easter, and hosta leaves for a garden arrangement.
The tablecloth provided the inspiration for sliced lemons placed between the wall of the vases. Once I had the lemons positioned, I added water between the walls of the vase so the lemons were completely submerged. Remove any seeds from the lemons slices prior to adding them to your vase so you don’t end up with floating lemon seeds!
Mini lemon ‘vases’ are at each placesetting, filled with garden blooms.
The mini lemon vases are easy to create by cutting a hole in your lemon with a knife. Scoop out the flesh to add your blooms. I used a melon baller to scoop a little “well” inside to hold the flowers. The lemon vase can be used as a take-away favor at each place setting.
They’re served up on Mikasa English Countryside plates with an embossed fruit and lattice design and framed with blue woven placemats.
Table Details:
Dinnerware / Mikasa English Countryside
Goblets / Mikasa French Countryside
Flatware / Pfaltzgraff Vienna
Tablecloth & Napkins / HomeGoods
Placemats / Ballard Designs
Napkin Rings / Bed, Bath & Beyond, several years ago
We’re back in the mid 90s the rest of the week with the humidity ratcheting back up. Hope you’re staying cool where you are!
We’re cool! We are in Brittany, France, where there is usually a fresh breeze by the lake-we live on a lake, also! We are known as ‘les pieds dans l’eau'(feet in the water…) and we ‘potter and putter and row about’. Your posting is inspirational, as always. Thank you
Just beautiful Mary! I’ve always loved yellow and blue together and the hydrangeas are lovely paired with the lemons! Such a ‘doable’ arrangement too! Thank you for sharing all your wonderful ideas.
Fresh, clean, summery – I love it
Gorgeous! That is one of my favorite color combinations.
Such a beautiful tablescape…..I love the color combination! I also really loved the centerpiece and how you lined the container with lemons. Thanks for sharing – I always love seeing your beautiful dishes and table settings.
Hi i’m using this centerpiece for my daughter in law baby shower. I bought size 5 vase what size vase would fit inside to hold lemons.
I would have liked to be the lucky person to dine alfresco with you in such a lovely setting. So happy and cheerful! Sweet bouquets with a real lemon vase holding your garden flowers.
Understated summery elegance for lunch decor. I love it. Blue and yellow have always been a favorite combination and anything with lemons! Love that you add the sources, too.
Blues and yellows are so refreshing. Just gorgeous. So inviting. Each sweet lemon floral plate arrangements are perfect! I wish I were sitting there right now!
Love anything with lemons for summer decor. Need to give your beautiful flower arrangement a try. May have to use some faux blue hydrangea since all I have in bloom right now are my Limelight and Annabelle species .Back to the hot and humid weather here in Greensboro and it has been so dry. Hope you are getting some showers on the lake.
Mary, thank you for the beautiful table. Lemons are so pure, clean and cheery.Your pictures are pure sunshine and summer. Thank you.
Good morning Mary-What a beautiful, relaxing summer tablescape! When I opened my email, it was a delight to see such a lovely scene! Love the tablecloth & napkins❣️ HomeGoods has such a nice array of linens and dishes. Have you seen the specialty coffee mugs that say “Coffee first then HomeGoods”? I saw them this weekend & thought of you! LOL They had three different designs (all are red & white) with clever messages on them. Any of them would fit you (or me) perfectly! Basically they are confirming they have patrons addicted to HomeGoods! Don’t think any of us will ever be able to break our addiction! LOL Who doesn’t love a reasonable retail “therapy session” with beautiful tablescapes to boot! The lemons look so fresh & cool paired with the hydrangeas. The mini bouquets are such a great idea! Mikasa has such gorgeous dinnerware. The cool white plates pair so wonderfully with the linens. The respite from the extreme heat was nice while it lasted but we are back in heat advisory temps! 😰 Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday! Stay cool! Clara 🍋 🌼 🌸 🍋 ❤️
Mary, the tablecloth immediately grabbed my attention and it is so striking! Lemons and summer go together and your alfresco table beckons one to linger. Lovely in every perfect detail! Stay cool!❤️
Lovely!! Blue and yellow always look so good together, and what a fun way to showcase your gorgeous hydrangeas.
This is so lovely!….fresh on a hot muggy evening. Love it!
Perfectly lovely! Thank You for your inspiration of this fresh and summery tablescape! Love the lemon favors!
So bright and festive Mary! That tablecloth is a real attention grabber!! The individual lemon vases are so sweet, this whole table full of lemon love has my mouth watering for something lemon!
Jenna
Soo beautiful — you do amazing work!
Beautiful summer dining ideas. Love. Love. Love.
How refreshing! I saw those textiles at HG, and you really make them dance on the table with your mix of placemats and hydrangeas. The lemons are beautiful. I use lemons every day in my water and, believe it or not, during this past week I had to go to several different grocery stores (chains, and different locations), and ended up at the farmer’s market to find lemons. So those pictures look priceless to me right about now! Always creative, you are!
Beautiful as always Mary…you inspire me and others to be more creative. Lemons make everything seem fresh and they pair beautifully with your tablecloth and hydrangeas….(which I am attempting to grow in a large pot..we shall see if that works here in SW Florida)
This setting is stunning! I would not have thought of pairing hydrangea with lemons but it is perfect!
So fresh and pretty, lemons and hydrangeas are just the epitome of summer. My Limelight and Pee Gee hydrangeas are in full bloom now and are just beautiful. I have several sizes of square vases and will try to duplicate your arrangement with them. Thank you so much for your tips, designs and continuing inspiration. We too had a few cool days and it was just delightful to spend time working in the garden but the humidity started to come up yesterday.
Two of my favorite things! I especially love your “vases.”
Cool and love the “feet in the water” comment from France.
Just beautiful!
Gosh those lemons are cute!! We’re putting “sherbet” in ours!! My Niko Blue hydrangea have turned limey green… franki
Absolutely love those little floral lemons at each placesetting!! This table just makes me smile – so bright and cheerful! Thanks putting me in an even more upbeat mood today with all of your fabulous lemony goodness!
Jolie table ; élégante et très estivale !
Bonne soirée
So cool and refreshing! I’m particularly glad of that as I wilt in the heat and humidity. Lemons are the perfect antidote! Cobalt blue is a perfect counterpoint to the bold lemons. I’m going to try my hand at creating your ‘vases’.
My FAV!!! The alfresco table!!! And I love that table cloth!!! Going to my Home Goods in the morning in search of it. I have been looking for a lemon cloth with blue, but have only found lemons and green. So, of course, I am excited to see this beautiful cloth and table setting!!! Love the lemons and flowers in the plates and the lemon and hydrangea centerpiece!!! And of course, beautiful Lake Norman! Perfect!!!
I literally just said, “Oh my gosh” when I say your top photo, Mary. That lemon filled vase is so simple, but stunning, and then on the beautiful tablecloth…so cheery and happy!! However, then you had me sighing at the darling mini lemon vases, which are too cute for words. We both share a love for the English Countryside pattern, which I never tire of. Thanks for the beauty, dear friend!
You have done such a beautiful and refreshing table setting! You are so talented and make me so inspired. Thanks for letting me swoon over the beauty you share!
I love your idea of using a vase inside a vase!
So refreshing! And by the water too, added bonus! Loves those dishes! Love anything lemon. Vase is awesome! Now I’m hungry for the dessert “Lemon Love Bars”! Lol 😊🍋♥️
Love the mixture of lemons and flowers! Everything looks so very pretty. Lisa @sweet tea n’salty air
I love your table, Mary! You are such a creative person!
~Mary~
Love everything !! the lemon vase is adorable !!
Have a joyful weekend !!
Paula
IN
So GORGEOUS! You know I love lemons, I miss having fresh fruit year round, I planted 8 trees here but it takes time to get established and ever bearing, although I fear it may be too cold to match our old house… Loving lemons means blue and yellow are my favorite combo, your bold stripe and delicate bouquets delightfully my senses, set against the lake, magnificent! For three weeks straight almost one hundred, my life is endless hours dragging hoses, this lemon pit stop was as refreshing as a glass of ice cold lemonade 😀
bonjour Mary,
Votre table est comme toujours splendide…et très fraîche ! Belles idées : doubles vases avec les rondelles de citrons et également le citron creusé et fleuri !! C’est magnifique ! Bonne et belle journée !!! :-)
I’m a little late reading this post…too busy outside, when it’s cool, and inside when it gets back to HOT!! Lemons, colbalt blue a great combination…as in previous comments, so refreshing while we are all wilting!! Stay calm and cool!! 🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋
Your blog is so beautiful! Thank you for doing it. I went to bed last night thinking I might have a leaky pipe under our slab, and it was confirmed today. While I won’t go so far as to say that today’s post made everything better, looking at your gorgeous lemon table in that lovely setting truly did lift my spirits. Thank you for reminding me that delicious lemonade really does come from sour lemons.
Blue, lemons and hydrangeas are three of my favorite things. this is such a beautful fresh table and the view is stunning. Dianne
Such a pretty table! Did you purchase the tablecloth & napkins recently? Thank you! Cissy
Thank you! About a month ago 🍋
Can’t wait to make these gorgeous vases. Do you add water inside the Lemon hole?
Hi, Yes, you want to water your flowers :)
So stunning clean and fresh. Clever idea…I love it. The litlle lemons on the plates will add a natural scent.
Sooooo pretty, I am going to try to do this using items I already own but yours is delightful eye candy!
This is just darling! I’ve just found your blog via Janet Shabbyfufu. :) I’m a new subscriber!
You are something, always such a beautiful tablescape!❤️